How to Buy the Perfect Foam Mattress Online

ByGuide Staff | December 01, 2016

If you haven’t bought a mattress in the last few years, you’re in for quite the surprise. The best ones aren’t for sale in mattress stores anymore—they’re sold direct over the net, at eye-popping discounts, and most have no-hassle return policies!

It can be tricky purchasing the perfect mattress sight unseen when there are so many great options and firmnesses available. But here’s how to pick the perfect foam mattress, no matter how you prefer to sleep at night.

Of all the big name foam mattress brands, the $600 Tuft & Needle has the best price of the lot. It’s a firm mattress with 10 inches of supportive foam, making it a great choice for back sleepers.

Tuft & Needle offers a no-pressure, 100-day return policy, so you can easily swap it out if it’s not comfortable. We don’t think you’ll need a swap, though: It’s our pick for the best firm foam mattress value.

02

Best All-In-One Foam Mattress Solution

If you’re looking to get up and running with your new bed quick, the $750 Brooklyn Bedding mattress is a great option: The company offers a complement of sheets, pillows and foundations alongside it. The 10-inch mattress itself is available in three different firmnesses and comes with a better-than-average 120-day trial period.

03

Best Foam Mattress for Athletes

You’re right to be skeptical of a mattress that purports to improve your athletic performance, but the Bear Mattress’ Celliant technology is backed by science. Special fibers in the cover of the $850 mattress recycles heat energy back into the body as infrared rays, promoting blood flow and boosting recovery.

There’s a 100-day return policy, so you can test out these bold claims for yourself and see if we’re right when we say Bear is the best foam mattress for athletes.

04

Best Foam Mattress for Try-Before-You-Buy Types

Most foam mattresses online offer a no-risk trial period, but let’s be honest: A mattress is a huge purchase you want to get right the first time. The 10-inch Casper Mattress ($850) is available for in-person testing in 70 West Elm store locations across the U.S. (as well as showrooms in NYC and LA,) so you can check out its medium firmness and heat-transfer properties for yourself.

Each Casper comes with a 100-day return period, but we’re not sure you’ll need it. After all, the Casper is our pick for the best try-before-you-buy mattress out there.

05

Best Foam Mattress With a Social Conscience

Leesa is the Tom’s Shoes of foam mattresses -- for every ten sold, one is donated to a shelter. Each of the 10-inch, three-layer mattresses are highly responsive to body movements, so you won’t lose support if you shift around. It has middle-of-the-road firmness, and it does a good job at dissipating heat so you don’t wake up all sweaty.

The $890 Leesa comes with a 100-night trial, so there’s no risk. It’s our choice for the best mattress with a social conscience.

06

Best Adjustable Foam Mattress

If you’re worried about your foam mattress being too firm -- or not firm enough -- you should check out the Novosbed. It’s the only foam mattress that can be adjusted after you buy it via the company’s Comfort+ kit. You might not need it though -- this is one supportive 11-inch mattress that won’t leave you sweating in the middle of the night.

At $1,000, the Novosbed is a premium offering to be sure. But we think it’s worth it, which is why we’ve named it the best adjustable memory foam mattress.

07

Best Custom Foam Mattress

Mattresses shouldn’t be one-size-fits-all. The Helixsleep definitely isn’t: Each is personalized to your unique sleep and comfort needs via a simple questionnaire. The company can even build a two-sided mattress perfect for you and your partner.

The Helixsleep will set you back $1,000, which is on the upper range of cost. But we think it’s more than worth the price, which is why we’ve named it the best personalized foam mattress you can buy.

08

Best Foam Mattress for Heat-sensitive Sleepers

When you sleep hot, picking the right foam mattress can be a challenge as many will make your overheating problem worse. But not the Purple mattress: It has a special “smart grid” design full of air channels to move heat away from you. The hyper-elastic polymer is also great at relieving pressure points in just about any sleeping position.

At $1,000, the Purple mattress is priced on the high end. But if you’re prone to sweating at night, we think the extra investment is worth it, especially with its 100-day return policy. Purple is our pick for the best foam mattress for heat-sensitive sleepers.

09

Best Foam Mattress for a Tight Budget

The $240 Classic Brands 10.5-inch Cool Gel foam mattress is proof that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a good firm mattress. It has three layers, including a top gel-supportive one that draws heat away from your body. It may not maintain its shape over the long term the same way a more expensive mattress will and it’s hard to return. That said, it’s still an amazing value for the money and our pick for the best foam mattress for a tight budget.